Forum Help

If you want to ask about changing your username, have login problems, have password problems or a technical issue please email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com

Posting help:

If you want to ask why a word can't be typed, your signature's been changed, or a post has been deleted see the Forum Rules. If you don't find the answer you can ask forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com though due to volumes we can't guarantee replies.

My wife works for a water company, is currently on maternity leave and due to go back to work at the beginning of January. During her maternity leave she became very ill with an ongoing, permanent health issue.

Today she met with her manager and someone from HR and they decided that she can't return to her job due to her new needs with her condition. The HR person has asked her to send in her Cv and they will try to find her something else.

Where does my wife stand in this situation? There was no mention of pay while they sort her a new post. Is she entitled to any? Or sick pay? She has a permanent contract so I don't know if they are going to simply cancel it. Can they even do that? She's very worried about all of this and it's all so vague that we're struggling to work out what's going on.

As Red-Squirrel surmises, it isn't a simple case of urinary incontinence, but something that might never come back or could appear again tomorrow, unexpectedly, and explosively. That's what makes it so hard for the company to deal with in her current post.

The problem is resolved for now but will never be cured. It can flare up again for no reason and with no warning, and if that happens when she's stood in a customer's house or sat in her van then it would be horrible .

This has finally come to a conclusion. Early in January she was put on indefinite paid leave by the company with early access to any new jobs coming up that would suit her skills and medical needs. Best result we could have hoped for!

Fast forward to yesterday and they have now decided that 1 month was their limit and they are offering her 2 months pay and won't ask her to return her enhanced maternity pay and they'll put her end date as 31st January. This seems quite generous so i'm in favour. However, they want her to sign paperwork saying that she resigned her post, which is not true. If she signed it, could that have any ongoing repercussions over things like JSA etc?

This has finally come to a conclusion. Early in January she was put on indefinite paid leave by the company with early access to any new jobs coming up that would suit her skills and medical needs. Best result we could have hoped for!

Fast forward to yesterday and they have now decided that 1 month was their limit and they are offering her 2 months pay and won't ask her to return her enhanced maternity pay and they'll put her end date as 31st January. This seems quite generous so i'm in favour. However, they want her to sign paperwork saying that she resigned her post, which is not true. If she signed it, could that have any ongoing repercussions over things like JSA etc?

This has finally come to a conclusion. Early in January she was put on indefinite paid leave by the company with early access to any new jobs coming up that would suit her skills and medical needs. Best result we could have hoped for!

Fast forward to yesterday and they have now decided that 1 month was their limit and they are offering her 2 months pay and won't ask her to return her enhanced maternity pay and they'll put her end date as 31st January. This seems quite generous so i'm in favour. However, they want her to sign paperwork saying that she resigned her post, which is not true. If she signed it, could that have any ongoing repercussions over things like JSA etc?

I am presuming that you are actually working and she would only be eligible for contribution based JSA.

If you resign from your employment without 'good reason' then your JSA can be sanctioned for a period of time.

Only a decision maker can decide whether your OH had 'good reason'. Given what you have said it is possible that 'good reason' would be accepted. However, the JSA claim could be drawn out. On the other hand it could go through easily. The Job Centre can contact her employers.

The easiest way would be for the employer and your OH to have a mutual agreement to end her employment because of her health condition. It would be best if this is put in writing.

I suspect the employer is asking her to resign so that they cannot be accused of unfair dismissal (others more knowledgeable will comment on that aspect).

Of course if you are not in financial difficulties because of her leaving her job then she may wish to claim contribution based JSA and just see wait what the outcome is.

Yes, there is a need. This is a compromise agreement/settlement agreement and as such is not valid unless the employee has had independent legal advice.

I'm the Board Guide on the Matched Betting; Referrers and Jobseeking & Training boards. I'm a volunteer to help the boards run smoothly, and I can move and merge posts there. Board guides are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an illegal or inappropriate post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com (it's not part of my role to deal with this). Any views are mine and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.com.

Sensible on the part of your employer to look for settlement. From their point of view she could potentially claim unfair dismissal, discrimination on the grounds of pregnancy, or disability, failure to make reasonable adjustments etc.

In signing the SA she will be signing away her right to take them to a tribunal. So, what are they offering above and beyond what she is legally entitled to in return?

When you look for a solicitor, make sure they are an employment specialist. Non-specialists can be really clueless.

“I could see that, if not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled.” - P.G. Wodehouse

People pointed out in this thread that the company is well within its rights to simply terminate her contract as they can't make reasonable adjustments and she's unable to do her job. If that's true, and I have no reason to doubt it, then their package seems a good deal: 2 months pay, keep her enhanced maternity pay, money in lieu of unused annual leave, £350 for legal costs and an agreed reference.

People pointed out in this thread that the company is well within its rights to simply terminate her contract as they can't make reasonable adjustments and she's unable to do her job. If that's true, and I have no reason to doubt it, then their package seems a good deal: 2 months pay, keep her enhanced maternity pay, money in lieu of unused annual leave, £350 for legal costs and an agreed reference.

It might well be a good deal, can't possibly say on here. Does the two months pay include her notice? Is the enhanced maternity pay contractual or discretionary? Etc. It might well be a fair dismissal, but no one here has seen so much as an OH report.

I'm just saying be careful before signing rights away, because once you've signed the settlement you can't go back.

“I could see that, if not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled.” - P.G. Wodehouse

The 2 months pay would be in lieu of her notice period, with her official end date at the company backdated to January 31st. Her contract says that she has to return to work for at least 13 weeks otherwise she must repay her enhanced maternity pay, but they are waiving this.

My wife saw the solicitor this morning and he thinks she is being badly treated. He thinks she counts as disabled that they are discriminating against her. Do we try a second solicitor for a second opinion? I'm reading the Equality Act 2010 at the moment and it does sound like she qualifies as disabled under the Act. What seemed straightforward is now very confused.

How this site works

We think it's important you understand the strengths and limitations of the site. We're a journalistic website and aim to provide the best MoneySaving guides, tips, tools and techniques, but can't guarantee to be perfect, so do note you use the information at your own risk and we can't accept liability if things go wrong.

This info does not constitute financial advice, always do your own research on top to ensure it's right for your specific circumstances and remember we focus on rates not service.

Do note, while we always aim to give you accurate product info at the point of publication, unfortunately price and terms of products and deals can always be changed by the provider afterwards, so double check first.

We don't as a general policy investigate the solvency of companies mentioned (how likely they are to go bust), but there is a risk any company can struggle and it's rarely made public until it's too late (see the Section 75 guide for protection tips).

We often link to other websites, but we can't be responsible for their content.

Always remember anyone can post on the MSE forums, so it can be very different from our opinion.

MoneySavingExpert.com is part of the MoneySupermarket Group, but is entirely editorially independent. Its stance of putting consumers first is protected and enshrined in the legally-binding MSE Editorial Code.